Discussion Starter: Facebook, Instagram and Envy

Heavy Facebook and Instagram users may like themselves less than their less socially-networked peers. According to recent stories on Slate and the BBC, being connected to friends on Facebook can actually lead to greater loneliness and can definitely inspire a strong sense that the user’s life doesn’t quite measure up.

In fact, one of the study cited is called “They Are Happier and Having Better Lives Than I Am”: The Impact of User Facebook on Percepts of Others’ Lives. And a German researcher who participated in a study called Envy on Facebook had this to say about the “envy spiral” that can result from passively viewing others’ updates, especially if those updates are images.

“If you see beautiful photos of your friend on Instagram,” she says, “one way to compensate is to self-present with even better photos, and then your friend sees your photos and posts even better photos, and so on. Self-promotion triggers more self-promotion, and the world on social media gets further and further from reality.”

Obviously, not everyone on Facebook or Instagram is drawn into envy and one-upmanship, but it seems likely that student could be especially vulnerable.

Let’s talk about it. Here are a few questions to kick off a conversation with your group about social networks and the green-headed monster.

• How would you define envy? [They should come up with the basic idea that envy is being dissatisfied with your own life because other people seem to have something better than you.]
• What does the Bible say about envy? [Good starting verses: Proverbs 14:30; Job 5:2; 1 Cor. 13:4; Gal. 5:26]
• Now here’s the hard question: Does spending time on Facebook, Instagram and other social media ever make people feel envious? If so, why?
• Do you think this is a big problem or a little problem for Christians on social media?
• How do people tend to respond to others face to face when they feel envious?
• How do people tend to respond on Facebook or Instagram?
• How is the version of a person’s life shown on Facebook or Instagram or other social media different from the reality of that person’s life?
• How different is your real life from what you post online?
• Is it possible that people are feeling envious of lives that don’t really exist?
• What are some ways that we can be sure that we’re not boasting, bragging or trying to promote ourselves pridefully in what we post? [Eph. 4:29 is a great verse in this context.]
• What can we do when we begin to feel envious about other people’s lives? [Phil. 4:11-13]